A Book A Week

How do you take your coffee? I was never really a routine coffee drinker until I started working from home during the quarantine. With so much extra time to devote to my mornings before work, I began to obsess about making the perfect cup of coffee. Since going back to work, I have less time in the mornings, but I still appreciate freshly grinding my beans before brewing a piping hot cup. Beyond being the perfect drink to kickstart my day, there's also something oddly satisfying about pairing coffee with a good book. When Emmeline Duncan's publisher sent me a copy of her new cozy mystery Fresh Brewed Murder, I was excited to find a book that combines my interest in coffee with my love for a good mystery. 

For most people walking by the urban food truck lot in Portland, the addition of yet another coffee cart might seem like nothing to take note of. For Sage Caplin, it marks the beginning of fulfilling a huge dream. Her gourmet coffee cart Ground Rules has been in the works for years. Along with her business partner Harley, Sage has spent the time perfecting a signature roast that will serve as the backdrop of her business venture. The cart is only meant to be the beginning. Sage has lined up meetings to include their coffee in local restaurants and has even secured an agreement to potentially include a full-on coffee shop in the new development that is springing up directly across the street. The business is brimming with the promise of potential, but Sage is about to be overcome with a harsh dose of reality. 

Space in the food truck lot is hard to come by, and not everyone is pleased to see Sage's cart move into the area. On the first day of opening, Sage befriends a young homeless girl and is inspired to allow her customers to pay forward a drink to those who are unable to make a purchase on their own. What is meant to be a positive way to interact with the community draws the ire of some of the other vendors who fear the presence of homeless individuals will detract paying customers from the property. There's also chatter amongst the other vendors about the gentrification of the surrounding area. They're specifically concerned about the large commercial property going in across the street, the very same development that Sage hopes to be a part of. Things come to a head when Sage discovers the murdered body of one of her very own customers at the cart. Is this a seriously unfortunate coincidence, or is someone trying to send her a message?

Cozy mysteries are meant to be light and easy reads that contain likable characters and just enough mystery to keep the pages turning. By those standards, Fresh Brewed Murder achieves everything it is supposed to and then some. Author Emmeline Duncan delves deeply into the detail of brewing the perfect cup of coffee, an element that sets her main character up to be a true expert of her craft while also grounding the story into some semblance of reality. I found the parts focussing on growing a business, perfecting a trade, and battling the impact of urban renewal on small businesses to be the most interesting. In fact, the actual mystery became more of a side story than the main driving force of the narrative in some parts. Still, I was invested enough in the main character that I had to see the story through. Fresh Brewed Murder ultimately ends up being like a simple morning cup of coffee. You've probably had better, more complex brews, but it will certainly do the job of getting you through the day, or in this case, on to your next read. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2021, 25)